Mosquito Illness Alliance formed last year with Sims as president and Dr. Leis as a board member. The non-profit group strives to increase awareness of mosquito-borne illnesses, and it’s no mystery why Leis and Sims are involved. Both know the damage that diseases like West Nile virus infection can cause.

That year, he and fellow researcher Dr. Dobrivoje Stokic, also of Ridgeland, were the first in the world to report that West Nile virus can target the motor neurons of the spinal cord, causing muscle weakness, fatigue and a polio-like paralysis.

The two scientists have since published over 20 manuscripts about West Nile virus. And their ongoing work continues to explore the long-term impact of a virus that has killed more than 2,000 Americans and sickened over 46,000.

Members of the Mississippi-based Mosquito Illness Alliance who recently shared their expertise at a Mississippi Braves game at Trustmark Park in Pearl, from left are: Wendy Varnado, state medical entomologist, Mississippi State Department of Health; Hunter Deerman, MSDH entomologist; Judi Anderson, representative with the DEET Education Program; Dr. Art Leis, senior scientist at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson; andSharon Sims, MIA president and Amanda Young, West Nile Virus patient advocate for MIA.(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)

Lately, Leis and Sims’s expertise has been more in demand than ever, thanks to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

According to the agency, illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites tripled in the U.S. from 2004 to 2016. In all, the study identified nine new viruses or bacteria transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas that can cause human infection.

“Since the report came out, there’s a new virus causing human clinical infection. It is called Keystone virus and it’s part of the California encephalitis group,” Leis said. “It was isolated from an infected person in Tampa Bay, Florida.”

It remains to be seen how big a threat the new bacteria and viruses will be. But Leis doesn’t discount the possibility of an eventual epidemic.

“Zika was discovered in 1947, and from 1947 to 2006, there were only 14 cases of human infection recorded. In 2016, there were 40,000 cases in Puerto Rico alone.

“This exemplifies the dangers of emerging viruses. We don’t fully understand why a virus remains off the radar screen for 60 years, then causes a million cases overnight.”

“You’ve got to study your enemy”

Zika hit the news in recent years because of its severe impact on developing fetuses. “Zika fetal syndrome results in multiple central nervous system malformations, including babies being born with abnormally small heads because of lack of brain development,” Leis said.

Those children are the focus of a Mosquito Illness Alliance project that has been taking Leis and Sims to Puerto Rico.

“We are going regularly to do clinics on children who were born to mothers who were infected with Zika virus during pregnancy,” Leis said. “We are also performing medical and neurological assessments on these children and creating a database so we can do follow-up throughout their lifetime. The goal is to learn what the virus can do. You’ve got to study your enemy.”

Mosquito Illness Alliance is also seeking funding to work with two groups in Puerto Rico to develop a supportive network for families, caregivers, providers and researchers affected by Zika. “This will include developing support group meetings, such as the successful WNV community we developed here in Mississippi,” Leis said.

Pick a card, any card, says Sharon Sims, president of the Mosquito Illness Alliance. There's a game that teaches participants the difference between mosquito prevention myths and facts.(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)

So far, the Zika virus hasn’t managed much of a foothold in the continental United States. But it’s a real risk to Americans who travel to Zika hotbeds, and many aren’t familiar with necessary safeguards.

"The average lay person isn’t going to get on the CDC website and read about Zika virus, Sims said. "But there are precautions they need to take once they return home to keep the virus out of the mosquito population.”

One strategy is to use some type of mosquito repellent for three weeks after being in an area with risk of Zika — even if you don’t feel sick. This prevents the transmission that can occur when an uninfected mosquito bites someone with Zika and carries the virus to someone else.

This happened in the continental United States in 2016, when over 200 people in Texas and Florida developed Zika infection from local mosquito transmission acquired from infected travelers.

The CDC also stresses that pregnant women should not travel to areas with risk of Zika. And women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant should not have unprotected sex with a partner who lives in or has traveled to an area with risk of Zika.

“West Nile Virus is here to stay”

Leis and Sims believe their work in Puerto Rico will be an asset if Zika impacts Mississippi. But their primary motivation locally is to keep West Nile virus infections at bay.

Dr. Art Leis, a senior scientist at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, has been traveling to Puerto Rico to do research on children who were born to mothers who were infected with Zika virus during pregnancy. “The goal is to learn what the virus can do. You’ve got to study your enemy,” he said.(Photo: Special to Clarion Ledger)

From 1999 to 2016, state Health Department data shows Mississippi recorded 1,341 West Nile virus cases and 75 deaths. And the state is among the seven hardest hit by West Nile virus-related neuro-invasive illnesses. Yet Sims fears that several years of low infection rates has made WNV a back-of-the-mind threat to state residents.

“People become very complacent if they don’t hear about cases. They think it’s gone,” she said. “But the message is West Nile virus is here to stay, and we will continue to see emerging outbreaks and epidemics.”